Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Next Big Thing

If you haven’t already heard the news, I’m excited to announce here that I’ve finished my novel!

The first draft of Silent Destruction weighs in at just over 57,000 words, but trust me when I say it’s going to take a rewrite (or two or three) before this one is really finished. 

But I’m going to live in this moment for a little while at least! …Until tomorrow when I have to start thinking about my NaNo novel in earnest.

On that note, I was tagged recently by Felicia Tatum over at Lost in a Sea of Words for The Next Big Thing blog hop – and she couldn’t have had better timing.

Thanks for this girl!





What is the working title of your book?

Silent Destruction, although I’d thought about calling it Mute Eradication at one point.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My sister andI decided to write a story together. It was meant to be a quick, short stroy that we could complete on the weekend. But the more we brainstormed and bounced ideas off of eache other, the more the story grew.

What genre does your book fall under?

YA high fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Wow, I really haven’t thought about that one much! I guess I like the idea of McKaley Miller playing Jess, but when it comes to the centaur Fayfairilynn, I have no clue! The voiceover for the humorous talking goat, Blue, is an easy one though – Chris Rock!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When Fate brings together a rebellious young centaur, a mute girl with newly discovered powers, and a comical talking goat, they must first figure out how to work together if they are to have any hope of thwarting an unnamed evil from razing the land; all the while, each is running from a secret destiny, past, and life that none of them want but which may just be the key to defeating the evil.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have to put more thought into this one. I always thought that I’d like to go the traditional publishing route, but with all the changes I’m seeing in the industry, I’m starting to pay closer attention to the self-publishing options that are out there.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

My sister and I came up with the idea for this story in the spring of 2008. We wrote the first few chapters together over the next couple of months. Our schedules got busier and we found it hard to get together to collaborate so I eventually asked if I could continue writing it on my own. I worked on it for a while and ended up shelving the project for about two years. Then, this spring I decided to start take my writing more seriously; I joined JuNoWriMo on a whim to complete the manuscript, but through all the interruptions of life, it ended up taking me until October 15th of this year to complete. I don’t want to think about how much work the second draft is going to be though…

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Upon completing this first draft and announcing the news to my friends and family, someone asked me what kind of book Silent Destruction was. The person didn’t understand what YA high fantasy was, so I finally settled on describing it as a “C.S. Lewis – Chronicles of Narnia’ type of thing.” However, now thinking about it more, I’d say that Silent Destruction is a little more hardcore than that. Honestly, I’ve never read anything quite like it before.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The initial spark for Silent Destruction came from wanting to do something with my sister that spring day at my family’s sheep farm, sitting on a hay bale next to my sister in the lambing shed with a notebook. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much encouragement I received from the rest of my family, especially my mom, as well as a whole horde of people in the writing community – in person and on Twitter.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Silent Destruction has many aspects of a classic epic fantasy adventure, but it is so much more. It’s about coming together for a greater cause despite differences in backgrounds and about following your heart and doing what you believe is right no matter what others say or how hard the journey.
 
And now, for my victims-er, I mean, nominations…
 
 
…And I would nominate AM Schultz but he doesn’t like getting tagged in these types of things... ;)

Keep in mind that I'm looking for some guest posters for the rest of the month and through November. If you have an idea, send me an email!

18 comments:

  1. "…And I would nominate AM Schultz but he doesn’t like getting tagged in these types of things... ;)"

    On the contrary, I LOVE getting tagged in these types of things... I just don't like the additional work involved with following through. :-)

    Congrats again on the full draft, bud. Looking forward to seeing what you've come up with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! Well then consider yourself tagged my good buddy ;)

      And thanks again!! You're encouragement has meant the world!

      Delete

  2. We're a accumulation of volunteers and starting a new arrangement in our community. Your website provided us with admired admonition to plan on. You've done a appalling job and our accomplished association will be beholden to you
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    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats on finishing your first draft! :D What an awesome feeling! And yes, there will be many revisions before it is ready to be published (traditional or otherwise).

    Oh, this is me glaring at you as I've been tagged by something similar before.
    My current WIP questions are here (same questions even!):
    http://www.dyadicechoes.com/2012/09/why-pixies-are-evil.html

    Anyway, I can do one on my NaNo story, but I'm trying to not think about it too much at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :D

      Well you might want to start to think about NaNo soon. Because, you know, it's like, kind of close...

      Delete
  4. Very sweet of you Amanda! I enjoyed reading about your book. I'd really like to read something that pushes YA high fantasy out of the box. What type of a world does this take place in? Also, have you read Graceling? I'm sure you have! But that's my most favoritest YA fantasy right now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graceling is one of the first on my list to read after NaNo! My sister's been bugging me about it for a while, but I just haven't gotten it read yet. Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading yours!

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  5. Congrats on finishing your draft and thanks for nominating me :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whooo!!! This is so exciting! We finished our novels close together, how cool is that? :) I can't wait to read this. I love the name! It sounds so...mysterious.

    I wish I knew when The White Aura would be completely finished...I'd guest post and talk about it if you'd let me haha But no date yet :( Editing is KILLING me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How cool is that? Way cool! Keep on going with The Wite Aura - soon it'll be finished and you'll be as excited as I am now! Just let me know when you're ready and I'll open a spot for you on here for sure!

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  7. I love your underlying message to the story. Sounds like a great book! And thanks for the tag. I did the meme a couple weeks ago and tagged you...somehow missed you I guess. How funny that we were thinking the same thing! Here's my link! http://rebeccagreengasper.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-next-big-thing.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. I can't remember if I've already congratulated you on finishing your first draft or not, but even if I did, it's worth repeating: Congratulations!!! Break out the champagne and the chocolate-covered cashews. (Unless you're allergic to nuts, of course, in which case straight chocolate should do the trick nicely.)

    The premise of your novel is intriguing--can't wait for the finished product. Wishing you smooth sailing through the revision process!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CHOCOLATE! Good thing my cousin just stopped by and sold me a bunch of Girl Scout chocolate stuff... the order will come in sometime mid-November - I'm sure it'll be just when I need it most for NaNo! (Girl Scout motto: "Always be prepaired!")

      Thanks Kern!

      Delete

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